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pennies on the dollar

Please help me understand the following in bold.

1. A lot of consumers may find it hard to feel sorry for big, fat cat corporations like Louis Vuitton or Disney when Chinese pirates and counterfeiters knock off their luxury handbags or first-run movies and then sell them for pennies on the dollar.

Does the above just mean "sell them cheap"? Why do they express like that?

2. A Social Security couple who are already being eaten alive by medical expenses needs a new drug not yet covered by insurance or Medicare. So, they try an online "Canadian" pharmacy that offers cheap drugs.....

In the above, if a drug is covered by insurance, doesn't it mean you can get it cheap? Why does the couple a new drug not covered by insurance?

Re: pennies on the dollar

1. The implication is that these fashion labels price and sell their products for exorbitant amounts. People are paying for the 'name' - see, I'm carrying a Gucci bag. It can't be the cost of manufacture because...Chinese pirates are making copies of the products and are able to see them cheaply - so cheaply, that for every dollar you pay to buy a genuine Gucci bag, I only pay a few pennies because the pirates are selling them that way - pennies for every dollar Gucci would charge you.

2. Not every drug available is cover by private medical insurance companies in the States, and new drugs in particular have to be shown to be highly effective before they are added to that list. For whatever reason, the drug they need is not on the list that insurance will pay for so they have to buy it themselves...and seemingly, can buy it cheaper in Canada than in the States.